Bangkok Haunts by John Burdett

“Even amid the sex trade, demons, spirits, and ghosts exist.”

Overview: A snuff movie, an exclusive Gentlemen's Club and a mysterious monk all have one thing in common: the afterlife.

This, the third in the continuing saga of Sonchai Jitpleecheep, a half-Thai/half-American former-monk-turned-cop in Bangkok, shows both the strengths and weaknesses of this series in spades. This time, however, its flirtation with weirdness takes it right over the edge.

The thing that really set me off? This is a paranormal mystery. It's not billed that way, but that's what it is -- it can't work unless you're able to buy ghosts as semi-corporeal beings who can influence the living (and apparently have amazing sex drives).

Bangkok Haunts is a virtuoso exercise in voice, characterization and setting. However, if you're looking for a straightforward murder mystery, you sure won't find it here. If you understand what you're getting and like the concept, this may be your bottle of Singha; if you don't, you're likely to be very surprised, perhaps not in a good way.

Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

“If you aren’t successful, check your birthdate, lineage, and circumstances.”

I much preferred this book to Talking to Strangers.

I originally thought this to be a self-improvement kind of book, but quickly figured that's not the case, then maybe some sort of a business development one, which also fell apart quickly. I cannot round off this any closer than to some kind of a sociology - psychology combo.

The lessons of this book can be put into a brief sentence: success depends on a series of cultural and other factors that are mostly beyond your control – however, the thing that is totally within your control about success is how much effort you put in. And the more effort you put in, the more likely you will be successful. They are directly proportional and we should all praise work as the key thing that really makes us human.

I thought the book felt like it suffered from data mining in that there didn't seem to be enough exploration of other equally successful groups that may not have had the same advantages. But still a fascinating look at what kinds of things influence success, whether we think about them or not.

Artemis by Andy Weir

“Attack of the Moon woman who made bad life decisions.”

Heads up: this book is a comedy - this is a funny/silly book. Sarcastic, cynical, innuendo-filled humor is rampant. If you are not a fan of borderline inappropriate jokes or cheesy puns, this is not the book for you.

I was thoroughly entertained during the entire read. The pacing is great, the reveals believable, the twists unexpected, and the action, delightful. I really couldn't ask for more when it comes to fun science fiction.

The moon is a great place to have an adventure. There's always the threat of being deported to Earth, the expensive living arrangements, and the law if you're a smuggler, which Jazz is, but there's always suit and engineering and environmental problems to worry about, too. And never forget greed and cupidity and the need to balance being a good person against a ton of intrigue.

I also liked Weir's visualization of what a colony on the moon would look like and how it would function. He addressed how some of the problems such as fire or problems with oxygen supply could be handled, although spent a lot of time extolling the virtues of good welding in a vacuum! Weir is also an excellent narrator and the plot moves along at a good pace with plenty to hold the interest of the reader, even if it all did seem a little unfeasible. It was also good to see duct tape get a mention or two.

Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell

“It’s hard to talk to strangers because…read the book”

Overview: Talking to Strangers is an elaboration of a simple (trivial?) idea: It’s very difficult to tell when people are lying.

This was the first book I've read by Gladwell and I can see now why he has become something of a pop-nonfiction writer because he definitely knows how to capture your attention. It's got some psychology, a bit of anthropology, a touch of politics, a dash of espionage — what's not to like?

Gladwell extensively used well-known cases that show that when dealing with people we do not know, we are not always the best judges of their character. Examples of this vary from Hitler to the Amanda Knox case in Italy and many others. Subjects dealt with include spying, child sexual abuse, bigotry, prejudice, financial dishonesty, etc. This book proves again that Malcolm Gladwell is an astute observer of the society we live in. I thought the subject matter was interesting and the research well done. Highly recommended if you enjoy studying human nature.

In the end, though, he brings all this information, all these studies, and examples together to leave us with an idea that is nothing new, but that I think we are all too quick to forget: people are more complex than they first appear. Don’t judge a book by its cover, if you will.

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami

“Don’t marry girls with powerful, shady, and politically-motivated brothers”

Overview: In a Tokyo suburb a young man named Toru Okada searches for his wife's missing cat. Soon he finds himself looking for his wife as well in a netherworld that lies beneath the placid surface of Tokyo. As these searches intersect, Okada encounters a bizarre group of allies and antagonists: a psychic prostitute; a malevolent yet mediagenic politician; a cheerfully morbid sixteen-year-old girl; and an aging war veteran who has been permanently changed by the hideous things he witnessed during Japan's forgotten campaign in Manchuria.

It is quite difficult for me to describe what this book was like. It is surreal and psychedelic. It is mysterious, something out of this world. You just need to stop questioning things and let yourself get carried away. But getting to the end of the book was also like being rudely woken up from the most wonderful dream. And I didn't want this dream-like experience to be over.

I forced myself to continue reading Wind-Up Bird by telling myself that a highly respected author like Murakami would eventually tie up all the loose ends. When it became obvious that these ends would remain loose, I still finished it but wasn’t happy with the ending.

Try as I might, I couldn’t find a message Murakami was trying to express through The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. Murakami did include a character that thoughtfully reflects on war crimes in World War II, but even this subplot was unfocused, and by the end of the novel this story within the story fizzles and suddenly ends without reaching a climax.

A Treachery of Spies by Manda Scott

“You never know who to trust, even if they’re old”

Overview: A Treachery of Spies is an espionage thriller to rival the very best, a high stakes game of cat-and-mouse, played in the shadows, which will keep you guessing every step of the way.

An absolutely intoxicating read, dealing with WWII spies, double agents and traitors in a modern murder mystery- with a brilliant female detective at the lead.

Manda Scott, in 'Treachery of Spies', mixes several genres: crime fiction/thriller, historical fiction and espionage and does so in a way that makes the story completely seamless.

It took some time for me to get into the plot but I couldn't put it down and found it a fascinating insight to a time in history that may soon be forgotten; cleverly bought up to date with a current day crime. Superb writing by a new author to me and I will certainly be reading more.

The plot was very complicated, which was fine, but needed better characterization to support it. It got to the stage where some of the names felt more like ciphers in a complex puzzle that one was trying to de-code.

*I had not read the first Picaut novel and did not realise this was part of a series. This book can easily be read as a stand-alone - I had no trouble following it.

Bangkok Tatoo by John Burdett

“Tattoos are cool, but be careful who might want them”

Overview: This high-octane thriller is set in Bangkok's sex trade district. The half-Thai/half-American who has never met his GI dad narrates the storyline, peppering it with references to his devout Buddhism. There's a serial killer on the loose and he's taking a very unique souvenir from his vics, but the plot is really well imagined. It will keep you guessing until the last twenty pages. Highly recommended if you like spy novels or depraved mysteries.

I loved this book, being the second in the series by John Burdett. I think it's better edited/written than the first, and the main character's conflict between his Buddhist karma and the pressures of corruption inherent in his job are really fun/strong.

John Burdett seems to have stumbled onto an excellent premise when he combines the conventions of hard-boiled crime novels with the exotic Thai locales and Buddhist philosophy in Bangkok Tattoo and, presumably, the other books in the series.

Like any good story taking place in Thailand, this book is written on a number of planes of existence. It is a mystery, it is a trip into Thai culture, it is an insight into Buddhism, and certainly a front-row seat into the Bangkok flesh trade. The main character (Sonchai) is likable, and we share his struggle as he attempts to resist the corruption of the corporeal world on his path to enlightenment.

Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami

“If a girl disappears, you might not get any closure”

Don't get me wrong, I don't think this is, by any chance, a bad book. My low rating can be easily explained by the fact that I've already read too much Murakami.

This book follows the typical Murakami pattern:
A simple guy who likes to 1. cook 2. listen to music/read books 3. think about the meaning of life meets an ordinary girl who turns out to be totally extraordinary, which gets her into trouble soon after the guy falls for her. The guy tries to save her from something, predictably dark but fails. The ending is usually bleak and confusing.
Sputnik Sweetheart wasn’t bad, but it was a bit boring. Nothing really stood out as interesting.

This book is a good representation of queer, age gap relationships; a seeming author who keeps on writing; a narrator as real as one can get. It's about life in general and the longing for the possible love which would never be returned.

I have come to realize that reading a Murakami book is not quite an act of reading itself but an act of dreaming with your eyes open. What you see is a series of surreal images barely held together by threads of reason. What matters, however, is the feeling these images leave you with.

Sputnik Sweetheart is not the best I've read from Haruki Murakami, but it was certainly worthwhile and a book I hope to revisit in a few years.

Bangkok 8 by John Burdett

“In Bangkok’s underbelly, everything seems to relate back to Buddha”

A unique mystery-thriller, unlike anything I have ever read, Bangkok 8 is the first of a series starring Royal Thai Police Detective Sonchai Jitpleecheep.

As I said, I have never read a novel like Bangkok 8; never read a piece of fiction that so solidified in me the essence of a people, culture, way of life - even religion - as this novel does of Thailand, tying it all into not just Sonchai and those he encounters and where he goes, but even the mystery itself.

It's a book that makes you think deeply, yet also has touches of dark humor and plenty of thrills; even conversations between characters, at length, never come off boring or as filler, as the characters are so exceptionally well-drawn — what they have to say so revealing of them or the story — you must read word for word. I have simply never read anything like Bangkok 8. And I certainly can't remember when I was last so absorbed in a book that, while reading it, I completely forgot about the real world surrounding me.

Killing Commendatore by Haruki Murakami

“If you paint a portrait, shit might hit the fan”

Overview: A portrait painter's marriage dissolves leading to him wandering Japan aimlessly until he happens across the home of a famous artist who's dying in hospital.

I love Murakami, so I’ll read anything by him. Compared to his other works, this novel seemed to drag on a bit, with a lot of situations seemingly hyped up, when in my opinion, they didn’t need to go on for as long as they did.

I feel pretty conflicted about this one. On the one hand, I enjoyed reading it until the final 100 pages or so turned into a slog. On the other hand, it's repetitive and minimalistic in a way that feels generationally out of touch.

The unnamed main character is in one of these classic Murakami in-between periods in his life, where everything has fallen apart but he's somehow fairly financially comfortable and has time to re-evaluate things. He gets involved with a questionably shady guy, and they start investigating some slowly unfolding mysteries. That should be great, but the edgy parts simply don't work.

I do appreciate the writing puzzle here. Murakami took five or six moving pieces and recombined them over in over, drawing out subtle progress. It was a mixed result. Some of the pieces are fantastic images (a mysterious hole in the ground, possibly connected to ancient monks who chose to be buried alive in search of enlightenment). Similarly, sometimes the combinations and slow developments were compelling, and the muted writing style came through strongly there. All of which made a good point that good writing isn't necessarily about adding more and more, but can instead be more about how the pieces fit. But at other times, the moving pieces just kind of fizzle. There are the usual consumerism turned weird elements of mystery that Murakami is known for, but unlike in Kafka on the Shore, this time they don't add up to anything at all. That's a theme in general: the ending is, in particular, a real dud, so much so that it erases most of the inner progress that the narrator made.

Pastoralia by George Saunders

“Deeper into the madness, and then it just ends”

Overview: Saunders takes us even further into the shocking, uproarious, and oddly familiar landscape of his imagination.

The stories in Pastoralia are set in a slightly skewed version of America, where elements of contemporary life have been merged, twisted, and amplified, casting their absurdity-and our humanity-in a startling new light.
Fun Fact: The eponymous story inspired the GEICO Cavemen ad campaign.

I loved the opening, titular story but found the rest of the book to be middling. Like, disappointingly forgettable. I know the stories were kinda weird but for the life of me, I can barely even remember what they were about or even distinguish them from each other. I don't think I've ever felt so uneven about a short story collection. It's so strange that it makes me curious enough to give them a reread at some point, despite the less than flattering description I've just given. I feel like I must have read them incorrectly somehow since the opening story was so engaging and fun.

Saunders definitely has a schtick here – sad-sack characters worn down by the unfairness of life in (mostly) comedic situations – but as there’s just six stories, it doesn’t get a chance to wear thin. The satire is goofy yet melancholic and it never feels mean.

These stories, wacky as they may be, don't paint a very flattering portrait of modern life. A father takes a job as a grunting caveman at a run-down theme park in order to pay his son's exorbitant medical bills. A male stripper earns a meagre wage to support his ungrateful family, who spend their day watching reality TV like How My Child Died Violently and The Worst That Could Happen. A desperate coward attends a New Age seminar, where he repeats the mantra "Now Is the Time for Me to Win!" and then tries remove his mentally ill sister from his home in order to achieve his goals.

Mr. Vertigo by Paul Auster

“Like if Icarus had hit puberty, and then couldn’t fly”

Overview: Mr. Vertigo tells the story of Walter Claireborne Rawley, in short Walt. He is a neglected orphan dwelling on the streets of St. Louis. Master Yehudi takes the boy to a lone house in the countryside to teach Walt how to fly. Throughout the story, they encounter real-life dangers like the Ku Klux Klan and the Chicago Mob.

This book is really interesting, as it’s told in the first person, and it’s clear that the narrator is recounting the story of his (fictional) life.

Mr. Vertigo is a truly wonderful tale; one that, in its depth of cultural relevance and commentary, reads more like a piece of allegorical history than fiction at all. Even the most fantastic moments come off completely real, and even more painfully so because of the weight with which they are written.

There's a sense of magic here and with that, of course, is always a suspension of disbelief, but there is also a sense of a lifetime portrayed and Auster manages to show the grief and pain of hatred and racism, the feeling of loss of love and life, and losing those you care about all in the mix with such lively memorable characters that one finds immensely likable. It's quite amazing that he could do this all so well and keep the novel just shy of 300 pages, but that's exactly what he does. It's a contained sort of epic, but nonetheless quite intriguing and heartfelt throughout.

There’s also some great quotes:

"Kansas is an illusion," He said one morning as he scraped away at his invisible beard, "a stopping place on the road to reality."

“I'm not going to apologize for things that need no apology. I did what I had to do, and it took as long as it had to take. Now a new chapter begins. The demons have fled, and the dark night of the soul is over."

A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami

“If you see a photo of sheep, turn and run”

Overview: This quasi-detective tale follows an unnamed narrator and his adventures in Tokyo and Hokkaido in 1978. The narrator and his girlfriend, who possesses magically seductive and supernaturally perceptive ears, travel to the north of Japan to find a sheep and his vagabond friend. As he discovers that he is chasing an unknowable power that has been exerting its influence for decades, he encounters figures from his own past, unusual characters, and individuals who have encountered the sheep before.

Though the plot is strange, more than the plot, it is the little things about Murakami's writing which make this book memorable. What I am going to remember the most is how Murakami captures the mood of a place or a moment of time. It is as if a room or a rock or wind are really alive and that time, darkness, silence have several characteristics of their own. There is marvelous imagery, astounding descriptions of natural landscape and beautiful metaphors.

This book is incredibly imaginative and has vibrant, colorful characters I enjoyed. However, I feel like Murakami added many layers of meaning to this book and if so, they elude me. If there is an underlying meaning to this book, I can't tell you what the heck it is. Or maybe there is no underlying meaning. Maybe it's just a magical story and my brain always wants there to be something more.

Overall, while I can't say I "really liked it" in the "will re-read one day" sense, I appreciated the richness of the ideas and language offered. If you're a reader looking for a book that will take you more than one read to truly grasp, then this is the book for you. It had my brain churning and my fingers tapping with nervous energy.

Timbuktu by Paul Auster

“No matter the circumstances, all dogs deserve a good life”

Overview: The story is about the life of a dog, Mr. Bones, who is struggling to come to terms with the fact that his homeless master is dying. The story, set in the early 1990s, is told through the eyes of Mr. Bones, who has an internal monologue in English.

I really enjoyed this book, despite never having read a story where the protagonist is an animal. The story is very moving, deep, and it honestly makes you think about your own life and existence and the way we cope with things. Through the eyes of a dog, who understands his existential difference from his human friend's, one can get perspective and possibly reconsider what's important in life. I highly recommend this book if you are considering - or tired of - reading existentialism books, as it goes into such matters but in a very smooth, easy to read, feel-good fiction novel.

On the surface, this is a dog story or maybe even a buddy story, but deeper down I suppose it’s a story of unconditional love and loyalty between two individuals, regardless of species or gender. It is obviously more than just an homage to our canine companions; it’s a statement about friendship and perhaps how life with a constant good friend, even if food and shelter are not always available, is more fulfilling than a life with creature comforts.

Auster masterfully puts you in the mind of a dog and takes the reader for a journey that's to be remembered long after the book is completed.

After finishing it, the story makes you reconsider your thoughts about your dog, or any other dog, as beings with feelings, intelligence, fidelity.

The Crying Machine by Greg Chivers

“In the future, are demons just malicious lines of code?”

Overview: This is a complex, fiercely intelligent thriller set in a post-apocalyptic Jerusalem and involves themes of politics, science, religion and artificial intelligence. The narrative switches between its three main characters: Levi, Silas, and Clementine.

The story switches between three characters, each chapter is told in the first person and though there were some good descriptions, I would have enjoyed more world-building for this dystopia setting and that was probably my biggest letdown in this novel.

But this is a more character-driven story.

This thriller, told in turn by three narrators, is a roller-coaster ride with lots of twists and turns. But it's also much more than that. It imagines new political factions of the future, such as the (wonderfully named) Sino-Soviet Republic of Humanity. It asks some thought-provoking questions about how far we should let our obsession with technology go, and where the boundary lies between religious fervour and fanaticism. And it also explores what it means to be human in a future where nearly everyone has been, at least to some extent, technologically 'enhanced'.

Overall this book really touched on humanity, showing an AI hybrid what it means to be human, and along the way perhaps a few others learn the meaning too. I also enjoyed that in the story, there is a religion based off worshipping machines.

It took me a while to get in to this book, at first I was confused with the narrative and where in time this all took place. After a few chapters I started to really get into it.

Kafka On The Shore by Haruki Murakami

“Finding yourself in this world is difficult, yet entirely possible”

Kafka On The Shore is a beautifully told story about needing to let go and step out of your own reality in order to find out that life is meant to be lived. It’s a profoundly spiritual exploration of life, who we love, and the choices we make in life. Murakami introduces us to Zen and Buddhist philosophies, with a little Hinduism thrown in for good measure.

One of things I really enjoyed about this book was that metaphysics played a central concept in the novel as many of the character's dialogues and soliloquy are motivated by their inquiry about the nature of the world around them and their relation to it. Among other prominent ideas are: the virtues of self-sufficiency, the relation of dreams and reality, the threat of fate, the uncertain grip of prophecy, and the influence of the subconscious.

This was one of the most engaging and magical pieces of literature I've read. Reality is unclear. The book presses the boundaries of what exists around the characters versus what exists in their minds. Powerful forces guide the characters--some known, some unknown. I was drawn to this book for the mood that it presented. It opened my imagination and set my spirit spinning with possibilities and ideas. It's rare to find a story with this effect. The prose, as always by Murakami, grabs you from the get-go--it's charming, smooth, and intelligent without being pretentious.

Surreal. Poignant. Magical. Weird. And a classic Murakami from beginning to end.

Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy

“An epic and biblical tale of fucking, fighting, and fleeing”

Overview: In a loosely historical context the narrative follows a fictional teenager referred to as "the kid," with the bulk of the text devoted to his experiences with the Glanton gang, a historical group of scalp hunters who massacred aboriginal Americans and others in the United States-Mexico borderlands from 1849-1850 for bounty, pleasure, and eventually out of nihilistic habit.

This book was wild. It has everything a classic Western could want, and then some. The writing style took a while to get used to since there are no quotation marks, no semicolons, and the speaking style is that from uneducated men in the 1800s. But after you get used to it, this is a wild tale. McCarthy's primitive writing style emphasizes this primal, bloody landscape that the characters traverse throughout the story.

Blood Meridian is unquestionably the most violent novel I’ve ever read. It’s also one of the best. I shudder to think that the horrors visited upon the Indians and Mexicans and homesteaders were all based on fact. Babies are smashed against trees, scalps are taken, and young girls are raped. It’s definitely not for the faint of heart.

Although it seems like a contradiction, this book is both brutal and poetic, but somehow it works. The story is bleak, dark, bloody but also filled with beautiful descriptions of the countryside, the desert, and the characters the gang meets along their travels.

There were a lot of times during my read of Blood Meridian where I had to stop and digest what I just read. It had a dreamlike, or nightmarish, quality a lot of the time.

From the first page you feel like you've entered someone's nightmare. There's no place to hide from the viciousness, barrenness, and moral vacuousness. The book is saturated in blood, in murder, one after the next. And it sports a villain that chills you to the bone - The Judge - who, more often than not, is naked, and doing something insanely grotesque, despite his intelligence and ability to wax eloquent.

Normal People by Sally Rooney

“A boring tale of young Irish love and its challenges”

Overview: This was a very quiet book. about Marianne and Connell, who meet as high school classmates in a small Irish town.

After reading the reviews and the high praise for this book, I was excited to get into it. Overall impressions: Waste of time. The characters are flat, the content (there really is no plot) is boring and insipid. I absolutely hated this book and hated that it sucked hours of my life reading it. I kept hoping it would get better but it just droned on.

The perpetual circling, round and round in the same dance, of two people who clearly love each other, without clear reason why they don't admit it and become a pair in their mutual suffering, is repetitive and very tiring. It feels like the author keeps it going simply to keep the book going.

Nice enough writing and observations but somewhat dull and infantile. The very notion of the two people, seemingly perfect for each other, ruining each other's lives over and over again drove me crazy. It became repetitive, then it became boring. I just couldn’t stand reading about the on-off relationship of these young damaged adults while such important matters like domestic abuse, depression and mental health in general were hugely overlooked.

I didn't find much to recommend this story. Writing was okay, not the lauded talent as described in many reviews. I took a chance reading something out of the genre that I typically stick to, and it wasn’t really motivating to do so again.

The Wall by John Lanchester

“From the wall, to the sea, a cold dystopian adventure”

Overview: Framed against the aftermath of a catastrophic climate disaster known as ‘the Change’, Lanchester paints a deeply compelling picture of a divided nation, committed to defending its walls at all costs. The dark heir of his state-of-the-nation novel Capital, The Wallis a Middle England dystopia for our fractured and uncertain times. A thrillingly apposite allegory of Broken Britain that asks key questions about the choice between personal freedom and national interest.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Although I have vehemently claimed I don’t like first-person books, many dystopian novels are written in first-person so I read them and end up loving them. This was a really interesting story, especially since “The Change” against which the entire world is changed, is never really explained, allowing the reader to come to their own conclusions.

What makes this story so disturbing isn’t just the world the author created, but even more so, the emotions of the main characters. They are mostly helpless pawns navigating a world that their parents’ generation created and controlled.

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

“People may come and go, but friendships last a lifetime”

This book hit me. Hard. Coming in at 700+ pages and not sci-fi, I wasn’t immediately captured, but once characters were introduced, the plot picked up and I couldn’t put this book down.

The novel follows four boys who meet at college: Malcolm, JB, Willem, and the central and mysterious figure, Jude. It's truly Jude's tale, but Yanagihara ends up telling each and every one of the boys' stories with ease and genuineness that makes them real. 

A Little Life was beautifully-written and contains some of the most raw and honest prose I've ever had the pleasure or misfortune of reading, covering misery, substance abuse, self-harm, sexual and psychological abuse, and loss.

Though at times, reading this proved to be a challenge and I couldn’t get through more than 20 pages a day because of the content and feelings it gave me, I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. The writing, the time landscape, the exploration, the devastation — all of it is expertly done in my opinion.